Last week I created a pioneer moment within the EU. At the request of 11 states, I proposed the first financial transaction tax (FTT) – often referred to as the Tobin or Robin Hood tax – to be implemented at regional level. The proposal had originally been tabled in September 2011 to cover all of the EU, but was opposed by some countries, including Britain. Now 11 member states – including Germany, Greece, France and Spain – have decided to move ahead as a smaller group.Continue reading →

In the ongoing American and British debates on the financial crisis and the best ways to bring the economy out of the woods, two opposite views repeatedly collide – the one represented by those who prioritize deficit reduction, the other by those who argue for recapitalizing the economy. The case of the United Kingdom shows that drastic cuts – if not supported by stimulus packages – instead of tackling the debt may actually inflate it. The American policy record on the other hand, proves that even substantial stimulus packages do not always lead to economic [u][b]revival[/b][/u]. It’s not enough to throw some extra money into the pool – equally important is [u][b]what[/b][/u] these resources actually fund and [u][b]whether[/b][/u] they are accompanied by structural reforms.Continue reading →

Today’s management-theory industry has no time for such equivocation. For its acolytes, reputation—or at least the corporate kind—is a “strategic asset” that can be “leveraged” to gain “competitive advantage”, a “safety buffer” that can be called upon to protect you against “negative news”, and a stock of “organisational equity” that can be increased by “engaging with the stakeholder community”.Continue reading →